Let’s Start The Day With Marv Levy Trying To Convince Us That His New Novel About A Rigged Super Bowl Is Purely Fiction

If you hadn’t heard, former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy has a novel about to come out. And if that doesn’t excite you, and it shouldn’t, wait to hear what it’s about. Now, Levy is certainly a great football mind and his coaching record speaks for itself. So a how-to about the game or even a memoir about his coaching experiences would be logical choice for Levy to write about.

So which logical choice did he choose? Well, he kinda went with a memoir of a coaching experience, but he wants us to believe that he didn’t go with a memoir of a coaching experience. Because you see, Levy’s new novel centers on a rigged Super Bowl. And even though Levy lost 4 consecutive Super Bowls himself, he insists that he doesn’t believe that those were rigged and the novel is purely fiction.

‘‘It’s exaggerated,’’ he insists, looking for all the world like that lawyer or history professor he probably was meant to be.

‘‘I never have suspected or sensed a whiff of cheating in any of our Super Bowls,’’ he says.

Even when Scott Norwood’s 47-yard field-goal try sailed wide right as time expired in Super Bowl XXV? Maybe there was a wireless chip or a lead weight on the ball. Or a mouse inside.

‘‘No,’’ Levy says.

If that ball had sailed through, think about how sports history might have changed. But the kick probably was too long, right?

‘‘Forty-four percent of field goals from that distance are good,’’ Levy says, like, you know, he never has thought about it again.

‘‘I anticipated it,’’ says Levy, who will be 86 in 10 days. ‘‘I knew people would ask questions. But it’s not about refs rigging the game. It’s about, well, what if teams have secret wires in opponents’ locker rooms? What if they listened in to other teams’ signals? What if they did illicit filming?’’

In the book, for which he graciously provided me his own written synopsis, I notice lots of very amusing names, such as filthy-rich team owner Cedric B. Medill, equipment manager ‘‘Malaprop Joe’’ Skoronski and quarterback Q.T. ‘‘Cutie’’ Pye. There is also an opposing quarterback named, ahem, Kelly James.

‘‘Yep, there’s a little of Jim Kelly in there,’’ Levy admits. ‘‘But it’s, remember, fiction. But the Kelly in the book is a strong lead er, determined, and a great locker room presence, like Jim was.’’

As the ‘‘Marv-elous’’ release states: ‘‘Above all, this story features a strong moral theme, and that is, ‘Play hard! Play clean! But — win or lose — honor the game.’ Beyond that, it is meant as entertainment.’’